


I Bloom For Your Smile

by rosalindstars



Category: The Wilds (TV 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop & Tattoo Parlor, F/F, Fluff, but there's fluff and that's what you're here for, honestly there's not much flower shop or tattoo parlor in here, i must repent for my angst sins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-13 07:47:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29149965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosalindstars/pseuds/rosalindstars
Summary: Toni wasn’t not staring at the tattoo parlor across the street instead of clipping the extra leaves off the fresh batch of roses on the counter.
Relationships: Becca Gilroy/Shelby Goodkind (mentioned), Rachel Reid/Toni Shalifoe
Comments: 14
Kudos: 19





	I Bloom For Your Smile

**Author's Note:**

> This is for the cluster. You know who you are. Anguish Choir/The Damaged Sweethearts for life, love you guys!

Toni wasn’t _not_ staring at the tattoo parlor across the street instead of clipping the extra leaves off the fresh batch of roses on the counter. Nope, she was just. Trying to read the poster for Anguish Choir on the window. From 100 feet away. Her eyesight was just that good. Definitely.

“You’re staring at the tattoo shop again, aren’t you?” Leah walked up behind Toni. Toni jumped a solid 3 feet in the air (shout-out to her basketball days, that vertical saved her life) before whirling around to watch Leah.

“NO! nO, nO, No,” Toni sputtered. “No, I wasn’t.”

“That’s the fourth time today.”

“Fuck off.”

Leah looked around. The shop was pretty quiet today. It was a couple weeks before Valentine’s Day though, so they had their work cut out for them. Literally. Toni set down the garden shears before the “tiny rage demon” Martha claimed inhabited her soul popped out and cut Leah’s small intestine. “Just keep working. You know Dot’s gonna come back from her smoke break in 3, 2, 1 …”

Dot walked in through the back door into the main room. She rubbed her arms trying to shake out the February air. “What’re y’all standing around for?”

Leah pointed two finger guns at the window overlooking the street. What a bisexual. “Toni’s pining over Tattoo Girl again.”

“I AM NOT!”

Dot nodded. “Just go ask her out already. Hell, just find out her name. I’m tired of hearing you yearn over _Tattoo Girl_. Next thing I know we’re going to play Mitski over the radio. Fuck.”

"What's wrong with Mitski?" Leah leaned against the counter and looked at Dot.

Toni, who could usually handle herself in any fight, didn’t like the fact that her coworkers were A) both taller than her and B) liked to tease her about something that wasn’t even a crush. She wasn’t “yearning” over anyone. She turned back to the window. Across the street, she thought she saw someone moving in the window. Wait…. _There_.

A girl her age, arms carved out of lean muscle and wrapped in flowing navy blue waves like a choppy ocean, walked out onto the sidewalk. She turned her back to Toni, raising her arms to take a photo of the awning of the tattoo shop.

“God, she’s buff.” Toni thought to herself. Leah’s face curved into a terrifying grin in her peripheral. “I said that out loud, didn’t I?”

Dot threw her arms up in the air and shouted. “YOU’RE GAY!”

Toni gave Dot a withering glare. “I really hoped you’d know that by now. We're all gay here, Dot.”

“GO TELL HER YOU’RE GAY _FOR HER_!”

“No? That’s a terrible idea?” The last time Toni told a girl that, Shelby told her about her childhood sweetheart-turned-fiancée Becca. Toni did not want to find out Tattoo Girl was taken.

Dot marched over to Toni, picked her up in a fireman carry, and headed for the door. Leah jogged in front of them to open it.

“PUT ME DOWN, YOU FUCKER! LET ME GO! THIS IS WORKPLACE HARASSMENT!! THIS IS AN OSHA VIOLATION!!!” Toni slammed her fists against Dot's back.

Dot set her down gently on the curb. She ran back inside and Toni saw Leah lock the door.

“WHAT THE FUCK LEAH.”

“Murr mrrr mrrr mr mrrr mrrr mrr mrrrmrrr !” Dot’s voiced was muffled by the glass.

“I CAN’T HEAR YOU, GENIUS.”

Leah opened the door just a crack. “Don’t come back til you get her number.” She shut it in Toni’s face.

Toni debated running around to the back. Dot was probably guarding that door. Shit. Toni turned towards the street. Tattoo Girl was nowhere. Toni… had to go inside the tattoo parlor to talk to her. Great. She glanced around for oncoming traffic and bolted across the street. Up close, the poster turned out to be for a “not-so-secret Valentine’s Day show with The Damaged Sweethearts”. Toni got an idea. Admittedly, a dangerous and shitty idea. But an idea all the same. She opened the door and walked in. Tattoo Girl looked up from the book she was reading. She was prettier in person, with a yellow headwrap holding her curls back.

“Hi, how can I - Hey! You work at that flower place right?”

Pretty girl voice made Toni’s brain spin. She blinked a couple of times. “Uh, yeah, the florist. Yeah, that’s me.” As an afterthought, she tried to smile. It must’ve worked enough for her dimples to pop, because Tattoo Girl smiled back. Her eyes lit up.

“Yeah, hey! Nice to meet you. I’m Rachel. I’ve seen you around a lot, but I’ve never had the chance to stop by. What can I do for you?”

“I’m Toni. I thought you might want to go to that concert with me.” Toni wasn’t sure where this courageous streak came from, but Rachel’s smile bolstered her. “The Anguish Choir/TDS double show.”

Rachel’s eyebrows lifted on her face. “Me?”

“Yeah,” Toni shrugged. “If you don’t have anything going on that day.” Dimly she remembered it was on Valentine’s Day, and no one would just ask a stranger to hang out on Valentine’s Day. This was a terrible idea.

“Actually, I think I’d like that.” Rachel tilted her head. “Here, give me your arm.”

Toni stuck her arm out, thankful she’d left her big coat back in the shop so her arms were bare under her t-shirt. Rachel rested her right hand under Toni’s forearm and uncapped a Sharpie with her left. She spun it between her fingers and started writing a series of numbers.

“I get off of my shift in a couple hours. Call me and we can figure out the details?” Rachel looked up at Toni.

“Y-yeah. Totally.”

“It’s a date, then.” Rachel winked at her, hands still resting on Toni’s arm. Toni was panicking from the warmth of Rachel’s touch. And when she panicked, she went soft. So, she lifted her hand from Rachel’s, kissed her forehead(she swore Rachel's breath hitched), spun around, and walked straight into the door. Rachel smothered a laugh with her palm. Toni shook her head and opened the door.

As she walked out into the sun, Rachel called out after her. “Oh, by the way, my favorite flowers are tiger lilies!”

Toni slammed the door of the florist’s so hard it rattled in its hinges. “Her name is Rachel, she likes tiger lilies, and we have a date on Valentine’s Day.”

Leah and Dot looked at her, then at each other. They tackled Toni to the floor.

“SHE HAS A DATE!”

“GET OFF OF ME, YOU’RE GONNA SMEAR THE SHARPIE MARKER!”

“SHE GOT HER NUMBERRRRRR!!!!”

Toni wrenched her arm out from under Dot’s knee. The handwriting was crisp and neat.

_Thanks for making the first move, T. xoxoxo_

Toni let her head fall back onto the tile floor. Okay, maybe she did have a crush. But who could blame her? She grinned wildly.


End file.
